stacked-mr

name	stacked-mr
description	Autonomous AFK mode: build a stack of owner-scoped PRs/MRs, then batch-review them to the bar. Human merges. Use on /stacked-mr or 'stack PRs'.

/stacked-mr — Stacked PR/MR Pass

Builds a stack of PRs/MRs without reviewing each one immediately, then runs a batch review pass at the end. The canonical owner, knowledge, artifact, and follow-up contract is docs/workflow/agent-process.md.

Stack Shape

main
  -> 0012-first-ticket       PR #1 base: main
       -> 0013-second-ticket PR #2 base: 0012-first-ticket
            -> 0014-third    PR #3 base: 0013-second-ticket

Each PR/MR diff is against its parent branch. The human merges bottom-up.

Merging caution (learning 0002): squash-merging the stack in a tight loop races GitHub's retargeting — children get auto-closed when a parent branch is deleted, or merge INTO the parent instead of main. Before each merge, wait until the PR's baseRefName is main and it is MERGEABLE (or retarget it explicitly with gh pr edit N --base main). See docs/learnings/0002-stacked-squash-merge-race.md.

Phase 1 — Build Stack

For each runnable ticket:

1. Pick the next now / next ticket by priority within the requested scope.
2. Confirm exactly one owner agent. If work needs multiple owners, split into linked tickets before building.
3. Set status in-progress.
4. Run the knowledge phase from docs/workflow/agent-process.md.
5. Branch from the current stack tip.
6. Implement TDD-first and commit.
7. File owner-scoped follow-up tickets for deferred work.
8. Run local smoke checks and inspect the diff.
9. Push the feature branch.
10. Open a PR/MR with base set to the parent branch.
11. Link the PR/MR URL into the ticket and update the stack ledger.

Do not run the code-review agent during this phase except for explicit trust-critical escape hatches.

Phase 2 — Batch Review

1. Refresh forge state for every PR/MR in the ledger.
2. Run one code-review agent pass per PR/MR in isolated worktrees.
3. Collect verdicts and review artifacts.
4. Fix request-changes branches, re-review only affected PRs/MRs, and restack children with --force-with-lease to feature branches only.

Phase 2.5 — Joint MR digest (human read surface)

The per-MR reviews above are the automated merge gate. They are not a human read surface — a human would still open N diffs. Produce ONE combined /digest over the whole stack so the human reviews the batch once. Because each MR is stacked on the previous, the stack tip already contains the union of the batch — the joint diff is free.

1. Open one joint MR, base=main, source = the stack-tip branch, as a draft labeled do-not-merge:

   # GitLab
   glab mr create --target-branch main --source-branch "$STACK_TIP" --draft \
     --label do-not-merge \
     --title "[BATCH] <scope> — joint review (do not merge)" \
     --description "Combined read surface for !#A..!#N. Members merge individually, bottom-up."
   # GitHub: gh pr create --base main --head "$STACK_TIP" --draft --title ... --label do-not-merge
   

   Record its number as $JOINT and the member MR numbers.
2. Run the code-review agent once on the joint MR (full main...stack-tip diff). That same codex session also emits the /digest patch — no extra model run. Around it run the deterministic digest stages with --joint "<member-csv>" (see /digest Stages 1 + 3).
3. The joint review's verdict is informational — the member MRs' own reviews stay the merge bar. Surface the joint digest; the human reads it once, then merges the stack bottom-up.

The joint MR is never merged. Close it when the stack has fully landed (it's a draft + do-not-merge; a future merge-sync extension can automate this).

Continue Conditions

• Runnable scoped tickets remain: keep building.
• True human-only blocker: file HITL and continue another lane.
• PR/MR cannot reach the bar after reasonable cycles: mark the ticket stuck with the artifact path and continue independent work.
• Scoped backlog exhausted: finish batch review and summarize.

Summary Format

Stack of N PRs/MRs, merge bottom-up:
  #1  0012-first-ticket   base: main              approve / tests pass
  #2  0013-second-ticket  base: 0012-first-ticket request-changes

Include PR/MR URLs, ticket ids, owners, bases, verdicts, test status, HITL items, delegated artifact paths, and follow-up tickets.

Hard Rules

1. Never merge.
2. Every PR/MR reaches the review bar before final handoff.
3. Force-push only feature branches and only with --force-with-lease.
4. TDD-first for every implementation ticket.
5. Batch reviews run in isolated worktrees.
6. The joint MR is draft + do-not-merge — a read surface only. Never merge it, never let it gate the member MRs.